


You and Me and the Stars

by orphan_account



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: (just a bit though), Bottom Niall, Fluff, Hurt Niall, M/M, Mutual Pining, Niall-centric, Pining Niall, Slow Build, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-09
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-21 12:45:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4829633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall hadn’t seen Bressie for years, but that didn’t stop his past feelings from resurfacing. If there was one thing Niall knew though, it was that he wasn’t a kid anymore.</p><p> </p><p>  <i>“The whole galaxy surrounded them, and little flecks of light reflected off their bodies and the bed, bathing them in a dim light. Bressie looked so beautiful with the stars on his face and chest. It made Niall's heart stop for a second.”</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	You and Me and the Stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Syderella](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syderella/gifts).



> Hi! So I really hope you like this, I ended up taking some elements from your other prompts and putting them for Niall/Bressie. There's also a little bit of smut at the end, which I hope is okay.
> 
> I also really want to thank my absolutely amazing beta, linvro, who helped me get this story ready in time and stuck with me through all the editing. You were great. :)

Niall grabbed the first round of pints from the bar and carefully made his way back to the booth his friends were sat at, two beers in each hand. The little pub they were at was buzzing with people, the atmosphere light and friendly. There was a musician on a small stage in the corner setting up equipment, his back turned; Niall just hoped his music would be good.

Setting the beers down, Niall grinned at his friends as he plopped himself back into his spot in the booth, right next to Harry. Niall immediately grabbed for the beer closest to him and chugged a good portion of it. 

“Nice to see you lads again,” Niall said as he took the glass from his lips and wiped away any residue liquid on his mouth with his free hand. “Can't believe we're onto our third year!"

"Only two years of uni left," Liam chimed in, taking his own glass but not taking a drink yet. 

"May it be the best year yet," Harry said, sipping from his pint. 

The four of them mumbled their agreements and quickly got set into a comfortable conversation. They had all mostly gone their separate ways over the summer; Harry and Liam had stayed in London for an internship and work respectively, Louis had gone up north to Doncaster to stay with his family and work, and Niall had traveled to Dublin for his own internship. They hadn't lost contact though and were still as close as ever.

"Hi, my name is Bressie and I'm going to be playing some of my music for you all, I hope you enjoy," a voice suddenly filled the air and Niall's body froze at the name.

A soft rocky beat filled the pub, and then came a clear but light voice. The music was loud enough that it was easy to be heard, but quiet enough to still be able to talk at a comfortable volume. Niall had stopped listening to his friend's conversation though. He wasn't really paying attention to the words in the song either, even as the guy's singing picked up in intensity, but he was intently listening to the sound of his voice. It couldn't be his Bressie, his Bressie that he hadn't seen for seven years, could it?

Niall slowly twisted around in his seat to see the musician more clearly. The guy was practically kissing his microphone as he sung while expertly playing the guitar. He had short brown hair, and it looked like a bit of stubble as well, though it was hard to tell at Niall's distance. The guy had really broad shoulders and was wearing an unbuttoned black blazer with a white shirt and jeans. Yeah, he definitely looked like Niall's Bressie.

With this new found knowledge, Niall turned around to his friends and tuned back into the conversation. Harry was telling a story about what another stupid intern had done. Niall tried to keep himself engaged, but his thoughts and focus kept drifting to the music and the fact that Bressie was just a few meters behind him. Bressie was singing something about not being able to stay young forever, and Niall couldn't stop from glancing behind himself again. 

One glance turned into multiple, each lasting longer than the last. On one particular look behind himself, Louis's words interrupted his focus.

"Niall, mate, you wanna switch seats or something?" Louis asked, a teasing lilt in his voice. 

"What?" Niall turned around quickly. 

The other boys chuckled.

"It's just," Louis continued. "You've been looking at the guy for awhile now. So I was wondering, if you wanted to switch seats, it would make it easier for you to lovingly stare into his eyes."

Niall felt the flush in his cheeks. "Um," he fumbled for words and began to twist his hands together on the table, "I wasn't staring."

Louis laughed loudly. "Sure, Niall. Admiring then. I get it, the guy's hot, not my type, but still above average temperature."

Niall gawked. "It's not that!" he quickly rushed to defend himself, though Bressie was quite hot indeed. "It's just that it's Bressie. I knew him back in Mullingar."

Louis laughed again, but quieter this time. "Well either way, the offer still stands. You wanna switch seats or not?"

Niall took a moment to consider it. There was no way his pride could win in this situation. 

Begrudgingly, Niall nodded his head at Louis and Louis grinned back in victory. Niall shuffled over to Louis' side of the table and Louis slapped him on the back as they passed. Niall mustered up his best glare for Louis as they sat down opposite each other again, but he didn't glare for long before returning his attention to Bressie once again.

Yes, this view was much better. Niall no longer had to crane his neck to an awkward angle to see Bressie, and he could easily engage in the conversation his friends were having and still see him out of the corner of his eye, or the other way around where he was focused more on Bressie. Niall could now freely watch as Bressie's body rocked with his music and how his big hands moved over the guitar.

Bressie was singing a soft song about an android heart. There must have been a backtrack to the music as well, because there were certainly more sounds than just Bressie's guitar and his voice. 

Overall, Niall thought the songs were very good. Niall had known Bressie was into music way back when, but he wondered when Bressie actually began to write his own songs.

Bressie played just a few more songs before announcing the end of his setlist. He thanked the crowd and then swung his guitar off of his neck and began to disassemble all of his equipment. Niall watched him carefully and when Bressie looked about done, Niall turned to his friends.

"I think I'm going to go buy him a beer and catch up," Niall told them.

"I'd hope so!" Louis exclaimed. "You've only been eye fucking him for the past hour!" 

"I have not!" Niall said, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at Louis.

"Sometimes you just need to accept the truth Niall," Liam added, and when Niall directed his glare at Liam -- Liam of all people to betray him! -- Liam simply shrugged and took a drink from his glass, a small smile apparent on his lips. 

Niall scowled and stood up. "What a load of friends you are." 

"Have fun Nialler," Harry called after him. "And remember to use condoms!"

Niall shook his head but smiled as he began to walk towards Bressie, who was coming off the stage loaded with his equipment.

"Go get some!" Louis yelled after him and Niall had half a mind to turn around and clock him for it. The other boys hooted their agreement soon after Louis’ words of encouragement.

Niall had to take a deep breath to steady himself for a second as he came closer to Bressie. A lot could change in all those years and he wanted to make sure to make a good impression on him. 

"Hey, can I give you a hand?" Niall asked, approaching Bressie and looking up at him. Bressie was even taller than Niall remembered. Niall used to be even more shorter than Bressie, but seven years seemed to change some facts. Niall was not expecting the top of his head to only come up to Bressie's chin.

Bressie looked him over for a second, no recognition evident in his eyes. 

"Sure, I just got to take this stuff to my car," Bressie told him and held out his amplifier for Niall to take.

Niall held his hands behind his back. "On one condition though, I get to buy you a drink afterwards."

Bressie grinned and he looked Niall over again, a little more carefully and meaningful this time. It made Niall's pulse increase ever so slightly and Niall stood up straighter.

"I think I could handle that," Bressie agreed and offered the amplifier for Niall to take once more. 

When they had finished loading the equipment, Niall bought them both a beer and they settled down at a table.

"So, I don't think I caught your name," Bressie started.

"Niall," Niall said, smiling into his drink.

"An Irish lad," Bressie commented with a wink, taking a sip from his drink.

Niall nodded. "Born and raised in Mullingar, I was."

"Me too," Bressie said in astonishment. Bressie opened his mouth to continue speaking but Niall cut him off with a laugh.

"Yeah, I know you dolt," Niall laughed. "It's been awhile, I guess I look a lot different, don't I?"

Bressie's eyes widened before narrowing as he stared at Niall intently for several seconds. "Niall Horan?" he finally asked.

"The one and only," Niall grinned. 

"Oh wow you- your- I-" Bressie stumbled on his words and Niall's grin only grew with each failed attempt Bressie had at speaking. "Your hair's blond."

"Yeah, I dyed it, probably only started a year after you left," Niall explained. 

"What're doing in London?" Bressie leaned forward, hands folded together on the table and eyes on Niall.

"I'm in uni now," Niall told him. "Third year."

"Oh yeah? What're you studying?" Bressie asked. 

"Astrophysics."

"Wow," Bressie blinked, and ran a hand through his hair. "Wow. How many years has it been since I’ve seen you?"  
"Almost seven years," Niall said. "But enough about me, what have you been up to these past years, and since when are you producing your own music?" Niall kicked at Bressie's shin underneath the table lightly.

That got a laugh out of Bressie and Niall smiled at the sound. Bressie's laughter was even better than he remembered it being. 

"It's just something I do in my free time," Bressie said. "I’m not all that great."

"Not that great my ass. Those songs were amazing," Niall said as he crossed his arms onto the table and leaned forward.

Bressie smiled shyly into his drink and Niall's heart actually gave a little bit of a leap at that, Jesus Christ. It seemed Niall's feelings for Bressie had not diminished in the least over time, though admittedly his feelings for Bressie had been nothing more than a silly crush; a crush Niall had known would never go anywhere -- except maybe...

Niall stopped that train of thought before it could go any further. Bressie probably still only thought of him as a kid, though he would be 22 in a little bit more than a week. 

"Did you write all the music on the back track too?" Niall asked.

"Yeah," Bressie nodded. "The quality's probably not that great, I just produced it in my basement after all."

Niall shrugged, "Still good though."

"Thanks," Bressie paused for a few seconds before continuing. "Gods, I still can't believe it's you. You're doing so well for yourself kid" -- and there it was, the confirmation. Niall frowned at it -- going to uni and studying astrophysics and I'm just a lowly car mechanic." 

Niall's frown deepened at the rest of Bressie's words. "Hey now, I think you're doing great too," Niall tried. 

Bressie just shook his head but brightened up shortly afterwards, despite Niall's poor attempt. "It's alright, I'm honestly so happy for you."

They talked for a while longer, mostly just friendly banter about Ireland and sports and music, but also more about what they had been up to in the past years. Before long though, it was clear that Bressie needed to get going by the way he kept glancing at his phone.

"Well it was great catching up with you," Niall said. 

"You too," Bressie smiled gratefully, and scraped back his chair to stand up. 

Niall followed his actions and crossed to Bressie's side of the table in order to give him a hug. Niall wrapped his arms around Bressie's middle. Bressie wrapped his arms around Niall's shoulders and pulled Niall closer to him. Niall was definitely not focused on the way Bressie's body practically engulfed him and the way his face was pressed into Bressie's chest, or how musky Bressie smelled. Not at all.

They pulled away slowly and said their farewells even slower. Niall watched Bressie leave before letting out a long breath. His eyes turned towards their table where their two beer glasses sat, not even completely empty. They had been so wrapped up in their conversation, they hadn't even managed a full glass of beer in more than two hours.

Harry was the only one left at the bar. He told Niall that he promised Liam and Louis he’d stay and wait. Niall frowned, Harry could have just gotten him if he had wanted to. Harry only shrugged and smiled lightly. 

They left and walked home together. Harry caught onto Niall's real feelings soon and Harry, persistent as always, had Niall spilling everything that had happened with Bressie. Niall was so busy retelling key points in the conversation that he didn't even realize that he hadn't gotten Bressie's phone number until they were halfway home. 

\---------  
Niall mentally cursed himself for not taking his car when the rain increased into an absolute downpour. It was late, the sidewalk was filled with puddles, and the rain was splashing up onto his jeans. At least Niall had had the foresight to bring along an umbrella, saving himself from being completely soaked through.

Still, his pants and shoes were getting more wet by the second and he hated the soggy feeling his shoes were starting to get. So, when Niall spotted a small store, he practically sprinted to get inside. 

As soon as he opened the door and stepped inside and away from the onslaught of rain, he immediately brought the umbrella down, closing it as he  
shook the droplets from the fabric and ended up whacking something in front of him with the end of it.

"Oh fuck," Niall muttered as his eyes widened. He put the umbrella to his side, and slowly looked up to what he’d hit. It was Bressie. He was standing in front of him with a stunned face, his mouth open in a small 'o', cupping his genitals.

As Niall came to the realization that not only had he hit Bressie with his umbrella, but he had managed to hit him in the balls, a hot flush made its way onto his cheeks. 

"Oh god, I'm so sorry!" Niall exclaimed. Without thinking, Niall reached out a hand towards Bressie's crotch, wanting to help soothe the pain, and then his eyes widened even further and he froze, arm half extended to Bressie. For a moment, Niall and Bressie locked eyes before Niall regained control of himself and retracted his hand. His cheeks heated up even more into an embarrassed blush. "I'm so sorry," he repeated. 

Niall literally could have dug himself a hole and stayed there for all of eternity at this point. He was so stupid! And then, oh God, he had almost touched Bressie's groin, and while Niall very much did want to touch Bressie there, Bressie really didn’t need to find out in this embarrassing way.

Bressie's face was now pinched as he held on to his crotch. "Didn't think I was a person to be overlooked," Bressie said, his voice just a tad higher than normal. "You came running in so quickly, I didn't even have time to step back."

"Are you OK?" Niall asked tentatively. He bit at his lip and hoped that he hadn't hurt Bressie too bad. 

"It's fine. A little whack from an umbrella isn't going to kill me,” Bressie said, even as he groaned lightly. “What’re you doing in here anyway?”

"Getting out of the rain."

"And what were you doing in the rain?" Bressie had now moved on to massaging his genitals, moving his hand in tiny little circles and pressing down every now and then.

Niall's mouth went dry when he caught the movement and he stared for a few long moments. 

"Oh," Niall looked up and blinked several times when he realized Bressie had asked something. "I was walking home from my friend's, Liam, you might've seen him at the pub with me. I didn’t want to take my car because it’s been acting up a bit. What about you? It's pretty late."

Bressie had a small smirk on his face when Niall first looked up. It was erased soon after. "I was picking up food for my goldfish and uh-" Bressie held up his hand that wasn't massaging himself, and for the first time Niall saw the two items Bressie held in his other hand. One was obviously fish food, and the other was a small red box and as Niall looked closer, he realized it was condoms.

Niall glanced from Bressie’s hand down towards Bressie's crotch. His hand was now sitting on his thigh. Niall swallowed before looking back up.

"Got a girlfriend then?" Niall asked. It was the first thing that came to mind that didn't directly have something to do with Bressie's dick. 

"No," Bressie chuckled. "I'm not much into girls."

"Oh," Niall breathed, and for a second, he wasn't sure if he was going to faint or ascend directly into heaven at the news. He did neither. "Well, hopefully it'll all still be in working order," Niall said as he waved in the general direction of Bressie’s goods.

Bressie laughed. "I'm sure the large lad’ll be fine. We’ve survived worse,” Bressie added with a small pat to his groin.

"Good," Niall smiled, then paled. "I mean -- good that the pain is gone, not good that it's in working order, well actually, good for that too but not like for me, directly." 

Oh God, Niall couldn't believe he just said that. Before Bressie could respond, Niall swiftly changed the subject, "So, you have a goldfish?"

“Yeah”. 

There was a small pause in the conversation that had Niall shifting on his feet and adjusting the collar of his shirt.

Bressie looked over Niall's head at the rain outside. "So, I don't think the rain's going to let up anytime soon. Do you want me to give you a ride home?"

Niall's whole body felt lighter at Bressie's words. He obviously hadn't completely screwed up. "Um, I mean, only if you want."

"On one condition," Bressie added, smiling.

"What?"

"You let me hold the umbrella."

At first, Niall thought it was for safety reasons, but as they stepped outside, he realized it was so that Bressie could hold the umbrella up above both of them. Niall tucked himself close to Bressie's body, but even still, about half of him and half of Bressie was hit by the rain. 

They ran to Bressie's car and as soon as they were on the passenger’s side of the car, Bressie unlocked the doors and let Niall in, giving him the umbrella. Before Niall could hand the umbrella back, his door was shut and Bressie ran around to the driver’s side.

By the time Bressie got into the car, he was dripping with water. 

"You could've taken the umbrella, y'know," Niall said. "You're soaked!"

Bressie looked over at him and shrugged. "You're pretty wet too, to be fair."

Niall just threw his head back in laughter. Despite their best attempt to stay dry, they were both still completely wet. 

When Niall's laughter subsided and he looked over at Bressie. Bressie was smiling at him with crinkled eyes, little drops of rain sliding down his jaw and neck. Niall's breath caught in his throat for a second as he stared back, before his mind got the better of him and he looked out into the rain.

"Start the car already, I'm freezing!" Niall said and he glanced back over at Bressie when he heard a chuckle. 

Bressie made sure to crank the heat and fan all the way up, before driving away from the parking lot. 

Niall sighed as the car started to warm up and the hot air blew over his wet clothes and cold body. He must look a right sight about now with his flat, dripping hair, and his shirt and jeans clinging to his body.

"Gotta direct me where to go, Niall," Bressie's voice cut through his thoughts. "Or else we’ll end up at my place."

For a second, Niall's mind flashed through all the possibilities of what could happen going back to Bressie's place. Mainly it consisted of stripping each other of their wet clothes and helping each other get off. Yeah, Niall would not mind going back to Bressie's place, at all.

"Oh, right," Niall blinked. He sat up straighter to get a good view of the street they were on. "Take a right up here, then just follow that street until you get to 3rd street where you can take a left."

Bressie followed the directions, and when they were on the long stretch of road before Bressie had to turn again, Niall's eyes trained in on Bressie in more detail. Bressie's skin shone with wetness, his brown hair was darkened by the rain as it hung over his forehead, and every now and then a drop of water would release itself and roll onto Bressie's face. Niall wished he could reach over and wipe it off. Bressie was focused completely on the road, his eyebrows were slightly furrowed and he was staring hard into the night with his lips in a small frown.

Niall's eyes trailed down Bressie's face to his strong jawline and then to his thick neck. With the side view Niall could easily see Bressie's adam's apple. Bressie's white shirt was clinging to his body and Niall could see the faint outline of all his muscles. Niall swallowed and then took a deep breath, trying to calm his suddenly racing heart. 

Niall shifted in his seat, sitting up even straighter and tightened up his stomach muscles. He ran a hand through his hair multiple times before trying to fix it, so that it wasn't lying so clumsily on his forehead. As much as he tried, his hair didn’t want to be tamed. 

Niall went back to looking at Bressie and settled on staring at Bressie's left arm that was extended as his hand gripped the steering wheel. Bressie's shirt clung wetly to the top of his arm but the lower half was bare. The skin on his arms also shone lightly. There was a tattoo covering the inside of his forearm and bicep but Niall could only see part of it. It was black and had an interesting, twisty design from what Niall could make out, but he couldn't tell what it was. Either way, it was hot. Every time Bressie moved his arm slightly, Niall could see the muscles moving and Bressie's bicep was honestly just so large and-

"Here?"

"Wha-?"

"I turn left here, right?" Bressie asked and Niall looked up. Bressie was looking at him, and Niall's heart pounded in his chest at having been caught staring. Niall quickly licked his lips before looking out at the street, and when he recognized it, he nodded.

"Yeah, turn left here. My apartment building is the second one on the left." 

Bressie drove into the little parking area. When he stopped the car, Niall didn't get out.

"Um so," Niall started, staring forward. "My birthday is in three days."

"Oh yeah?"

"I'm turning 22," Niall continued. He swallowed, then said, "I was going to have a get together at mine and Harry's place -- Harry's my roommate, and I was wondering," Niall finally looked over at Bressie to see him watching him, "if you wanted to come over."

Bressie blinked at Niall and when he didn't answer for a minute, Niall was about to take back everything he’d said.

"I'd like to, yeah," Bressie said before Niall could back track. "Is it OK though? I mean, I don't think I really know any of your friends."

"It's fine," Niall rushed to say. "They're -- well, I don't know if you saw them at the pub or not --" Bressie gave a nod to say he had, "but they're nice lads even if they might’ve seemed a bit crazy. You'll get along fine."

"OK."

"OK, good." Niall bit at his lip to keep from smiling as wide as he wanted to. It didn't exactly work. He went to unlock the door, but then thought better of it and turned back to Bressie.

"Uh, can I get your phone number?" Niall asked. "To text you the party specifics?"

"Sure."

"Thanks, I'll see you then," Niall said once he’d gotten Bressie's number. He opened the door and tucked his phone safely away in his pocket. 

"Bye, see you soon," Bressie called after him.

Niall ran all the way up to his apartment with a grin on his face, skipping every few steps. 

 

\---------

"HARRY!" Niall yelled with his head buried in a closet full of clothes he was currently going through. It was three days after he’d gotten a ride home from Bressie, and it so happened to be his birthday.

"Harry!" Niall called again and then jumped when Harry answered immediately, standing right behind him.

"Yes?" 

"Which shirt do you think I should wear?" Niall asked. "I wanna wear one of those ones that look good unbuttoned at the top, and rolled at the sleeves, y'know."

Harry raised his eyebrows and gave Niall a knowing look but stepped forward without any comment. "OK," and then Harry started selecting shirts. 

"How about this one?" Harry picked out a white button up shirt that had a seemingly random gray pattern on it. "It would look good with your black jeans, plus it accentuates your shoulders."

"Yeah?" Niall took the shirt and held it up. After examining it for a moment, he nodded and laid the shirt across his bed. 

"So who are you trying to look good for?" Harry casually asked, leaning against the wall. "Is it Bressie?"

Niall blushed. "No," he turned away to face his small wardrobe and to fetch his black skinny jeans.

"Are you sure?" Harry's tone was light and teasing.

"Yes," Niall said, feigning nonchalance. 

"Then why do you want a shirt you can unbutton at the top? And that shows off your biceps, and your shoulders?"

"I finally got chest hair for a reason," Niall told him, pulling down the t-shirt he was currently wearing so Harry could see, then he curled his arm up so his bicep would bulge. "And look at these guns. It would be a waste to hide them."

"Uh-huh. And if it had been just us lads, you still would've changed clothes?" 

"Yes," Niall nodded stiffly.

"Because as I see it, I think you want to show Bressie your newfound manliness," Harry said.

"No - I - um," Niall stumbled, then finally just decided to give in. "Shut up."

Harry grinned. "Nothing wrong with it, Niall. Just wanted you to admit it. I'll be sure to talk you up as well."

"Oh god, please don't," Niall begged but Harry was already leaving the room with a wave.  
\---------

Bressie was the last one to show up, and when Niall heard the knock on the door, he definitely did not adjust his shirt and hair to make sure everything was in order before opening the door to let him in.

"Hey, Happy Birthday," Bressie greeted as he stepped inside. 

"Hi," Niall smiled. His grin turned even bigger when he noted Bressie glancing down at his outfit before looking back up, eyes lingering just a second longer on Niall's semi-exposed chest. Yes, a good choice of shirt indeed.

"You look great," Bressie said. 

"You too," Niall replied, giving Bressie his own once-over. Bressie was wearing a simple black t-shirt and blue jeans. Dressed down but still looking really damn hot, though Niall suspected Bressie could wear pretty much anything and still look quite attractive.

“Hey-yo," Louis suddenly called. "Are you guys just gonna keep making heart eyes at each other or are we gonna celebrate? We got several cases of alcohol to empty over here."

Heat rose up in Niall's cheeks and he turned around quickly to hiss out a "Louis!"

Louis just grinned and shrugged, and took a large drink of his bottled beer.

Bressie just chuckled and followed as Niall walked over to the small lounge area. Louis was sat on the right side of the couch, Harry on the arm, and Liam was sitting on the lone chair next to it. The middle of the couch for Niall and the left seat for Bressie were left open. 

As Niall crossed the room, he felt, just for a second, Bressie's hand spread across the middle of his back. It was gone just as quick as Bressie had placed it there, but it caused a small shiver to travel up Niall's spine, and Niall wished Bressie would repeat the motion. He didn't. 

"So, this is the famous Bressie," Louis said as they sat down. "Niall hasn't stopped talking about you since he saw you at the pub."

"Oh really?" Bressie laughed and nudged Niall in his side. 

Niall just ran a hand through his hair and refused to look over at Bressie, instead he shot a death glare at Louis. Louis smiled innocently. 

"So where do you work?" Liam asked, scooting to sit on the edge of the chair.

"I'm a car mechanic at a little place right next to Primark, nothing too special really."

"Oh, so you get down and dirty often then?" Louis grinned.

"Oh my God," Niall mumbled under his breath, fearing Louis was going to push Bressie over the edge. He looked quickly up at Bressie in order to gauge his reaction. 

"I guess you could say that," Bressie winked and Niall forgot how to breathe for a second.

"Anyways," Niall rushed to say before the conversation could go any further down that treacherous path, "There's a cake in the fridge that Harry baked and it looked delicious last time I saw it, so we should definitely eat that." Because if Bressie could keep up with Louis' dirty banter than it would certainly be Niall who lost control in the end.

"Ooo right," Harry said, hopping up off the arm of the couch. "I'll go get it."

The room was silent while Harry was gone and Niall was thankful for it. It meant time for him to calm himself down a little, that is, until he noticed how Bressie's side was pressed up against his and how nice and warm that felt. Fortunately, Harry was back a second later, chocolate cake in hand.

"Here we go," Harry said and set the cake down. 

Niall immediately reached out for the knife to cut the cake, but Harry swatted his hand away.

"Hey, we haven't even sung you Happy Birthday," Harry said.

"You guys definitely do not have to sing to me," Niall frowned.

"Of course we do," Bressie grinned and slung his arm across Niall's shoulders. Niall tensed for a second before relaxing. The weight of Bressie's arm on his shoulders was nice and Bressie's hand hung down to Niall's bicep so Niall could feel the faint brush of his fingers there. Niall wanted to melt into the touch.

"OK," Niall agreed, choosing to ignore the fact he agreed so easily when Bressie was the one who suggested it, instead of Harry

The boys started into a horrible rendition of Happy Birthday. To be fair, Liam was singing it quite well, but Louis was screeching, Bressie was slightly off key and Harry was just trying to hold back his laughter throughout the whole thing. Niall pretended to hate it at first but by the end, he was grinning to himself. 

"We're supposed to have the cake near the end, not the beginning,” Harry pouted as Niall cut and divvied the cake up.

Niall shrugged and dug into his food. "It's too delicious to have wait."

"I agree," Bressie nodded. "It's quite good, Harry."

"Thanks," Harry beamed, then leaned over to Niall and whispered loudly, "I like him, he's a keeper."

Niall choked on his food and had to take a large gulp of his beer before having a coughing fit into his elbow. At least it distracted Bressie from what Harry’d just said as he started rubbing Niall’s back.

"Are you OK?" Bressie asked, and the question was echoed by the other lads.

"I'm good," Niall said, voice hoarse. There were tears in his eyes when he looked up to four pairs of eyes trained on him. He quickly wiped them away. "Just swallowed it down wrong is all."

This seemed to appease everyone and they all went back to eating their cake. 

"So Bressie, do you live close by?" Liam asked after a long drawn out silence.

"Yeah, about ten minutes, I got my own little apartment."

"That's nice," Niall said, turned towards Bressie. "I was actually thinking about getting my own flat." The words came out before Niall could stop them, and Niall could practically see the questions in the eyes of the other three boys, because Niall had never once even mentioned looking for an apartment, it was a big fat lie. Still, Niall swallowed and decided to continue anyways.

"I mean, this one is a university apartment and it's not all that great and I wanted to get something off campus and more permanent." 

"Hmm," Bressie hummed, staring down at Niall. For a second, Niall thought he saw Bressie's eyes flick down to his lips. "Maybe I can help you look sometime."

"Yeah," Niall's voice came out breathy. He gazed up at Bressie for another moment before he managed to break contact. "So anyone want to play FIFA?" 

They spent the rest of the night playing games, eating pizza, drinking lots of beer and chatting about the most random of things. 

It was midnight by the time they had all pretty much tired themselves out.

"You should crash here," Niall told Bressie. "Don't want you driving home drunk."

For a second it looked like Bressie was going to deny the offer but then he nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right, I shouldn't drive."

"Good. The couch pulls out into a bed and the chair reclines. I think Liam and Louis are gonna share the couch bed if you're alright with the chair, or you could have my bed and I could sleep in the chair if you'd--," Niall rambled, twisting his fingers together.

"Hey," Bressie interrupted and took Niall's wrists into his hands in order to stop the nervous fidgeting. "I'm fine with the chair. I've fallen asleep in weirder places, trust me."

Niall nodded. His wrists felt so small in Bressie's large hands. "If you need anything, come and get me?"

"Sure," Bressie smiled. "And also, you were right, your friends are nice lads. Thanks for inviting me, this was a lot of fun."

Niall felt his heart flutter as he grinned up at Bressie. "Yeah, no problem. I'm glad you came."

They smiled at each other for just a bit longer before Bressie released Niall's wrists and they said their goodnights. Then Niall was off towards his own bedroom. Before Niall entered his room, he gave one glance down the hallway and saw Bressie taking off his shirt, back to Niall. Niall shuddered slightly then stepped into his room.

\---------

 

A week later, Niall had the misfortune of his car breaking down on him. It was dark as Niall's fingers fumbled over the contacts in his phone, trying to get to Bressie's. He brought the phone up to his ear, his hands shaking. It was only a bit chilly in Niall's car but his whole body was shivering, and he hugged his thin coat closer to him as the familiar sounds of ringing came from the phone.

There was a little bit of crackle on the other side of the line and then a gruff, "Hello?"

"Bres?" Niall cried out, relief shooting through him. The feeling only lasted a second though, before Niall had to sniffle and blink a few times to hold back tears. 

"Niall?" Bressie asked, sounding alarmed. "Are you OK?"

"No," Niall said, his voice hoarse. "My car broke down and I don't -- I don't know what to do. It won't start up and it's too far to walk back home and this neighborhood seems really sketchy."

Niall was breathing heavily at this point, sucking in deep gulps of air and hardly letting any of it go before the next, but still, he wasn't getting enough air; he felt like he was suffocating.

"OK, can you tell me where you are?" Bressie's voice was calm.

"No," Niall choked out. "I'm on some dark side street, I don't know what it's called."

"OK, that's OK," Bressie soothed. "Do you know your general location or where you were headed?"

“I was heading back to campus from a pub downtown,” Niall answered. “I think I’m close to Farringdon Road, I’m not sure.”

"That's good," Bressie told him. "Do you remember anything else about your location?”

"No," Niall said, then paused for a few seconds. "There was a Tesco. I passed it right before I turned down this street."

"OK, good good," Bressie said. "I think I can work out where you are. Do you want me stay on the phone with you?"

"Please," Niall almost cried. 

"Alright, I'm on my way," Bressie said through the phone. "Can you breathe with me Niall, please?" 

"Yeah," Niall said. He tipped his head back against the seat and tried to slow his breathing down on his own. It didn't work.

Bressie led Niall through some breathing exercises, breathing with him loudly for several minutes. Niall managed to focus solely on Bressie's words and breathing, forgetting where he was for a minute, as he tried to match his breathing to Bressie's. Slowly, it started to work and Niall felt his racing heart slow. Niall's breaths were still ragged, but now he was at least getting a good amount of air into his lungs. It helped that Bressie kept murmuring words of encouragement into his ear. 

Once Niall's breathing had come back to almost normal, Bressie kept him distracted by just talking. He talked about random things from the type of dog he wanted eventually -- a lab that he could take out for runs without a leash -- to the new songs he was working on. 

Niall just closed his eyes and immersed himself fully into Bressie's stories. 

"I'm almost there," Bressie interrupted his own story about twenty minutes later. "I'm at the Tesco, do you know which side street you turned down?"

Now that Niall had calmed down a bit, he was actually able to think about the answer. "I took a left on the third street past it, heading towards campus."

"I'll be there soon."

The next minute was silent besides the small little noises Bressie made as he drove. Niall finally managed to open his eyes and peer down the street.

Now that he was seeing it clearly, the street didn't look as bad as he had originally thought. Sure, it was dark, but the houses lining the street didn't seem too rundown from what Niall could tell. Just as Niall was starting to feel embarrassed for his breakdown, he saw headlights in his rear-view mirror. 

It was like a weight lifted off his chest and Niall almost felt like crying again, but this time out of relief. 

Bressie pulled up behind his car and was getting out a second later, heading towards the driver’s door. Niall unbuckled his seatbelt and got out to meet Bressie. 

As Bressie neared Niall, he held out his arms and Niall practically ran into them. He buried his head into Bressie's chest, a few tears pooling in his eyes and slipping out. Bressie wrapped him in his arms and squeezed tight.

They stayed like that for several minutes. Bressie slightly rocked them back and forth and rubbed Niall's back with his hand. Bressie made a few comforting noises but neither of them spoke. Niall felt immensely more safe.

Niall slowly pulled away, rubbing at his eyes. Embarrassment finally hit him head-strong and he felt a hot flush in his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry," Niall said, looking up at Bressie and wringing his hands together. "I overreacted and I'm sor--"

"Hey, hey," Bressie interrupted and placed his hands on Niall's upper arms, his hands almost big enough to wrap around them. "It's OK, I'm glad you called me, and I was more than willing to come help you out. I don’t mind at all, OK?"

Niall nodded but still didn't feel completely convinced.

"I'm just going to take a look at the engine, and see if it's something I'll be able to fix here or not. Can you open the hood for me?"

"OK," Niall went to open the hood of the car. 

"Can you shine this flashlight at the engine for me?" Bressie asked, and held out a flashlight that Niall hadn't noticed before.

Bressie got to work, leaning over the front of the car. Niall couldn't tell what he was tinkering with, but Niall stood there watching for a minute, slightly bouncing between his two feet. After a bit though, Niall got bored of watching what Bressie was doing with the engine, and decided to watch Bressie himself.

Bressie was wearing sweats, which nicely showed the curve of his butt , a big t-shirt, and his hair was ruffled. It was pretty obvious that he had been either in bed, or about to go to bed when Niall had called. Niall felt embarrassment creeping up his spine again. He wrapped the arm that didn't have the flashlight around his stomach and clutched at the shirt he was wearing. 

After a little, Bressie stood back up and shut the hood. "I'm going to call a tow truck and have it taken to my work. I'll fix it up for you tomorrow, is that alright?"

"Yeah," Niall said. "Thank you so much."

Bressie smiled, and Niall felt his heart flutter. 

"It was no problem, I'm just glad you're safe. C'mon, let's go sit in my car while we wait for the tow truck." 

Bressie placed his hand on Niall's lower back and rubbed his thumb up and down as he led Niall to the car. Niall had to remind himself how to walk. Bressie opened the door and Niall climbed inside.

Niall watched as Bressie got into the car too, phone already pressed to his ear as he called for a tow truck. Niall began to bite on his nails as he stared at Bressie's mouth as it moved, every now and then glancing up to Bressie's eyes to make sure he wasn't looking at him. 

When Bressie hung up the phone, he finally looked over at Niall and their eyes locked together for a second before Bressie glanced down slightly.

"Hey, don't do that," Bressie said. He reached out and took hold of Niall's wrist, fingers wrapping all the way around and took Niall’s hand from his mouth. For a second, their hands rested together. Niall looked down at their hands and his breath caught in his throat. When Niall's eyes flicked back up, Bressie was staring at him. The skin of Niall's cheeks suddenly felt hot and he averted his eyes .

Bressie removed his hand a moment later and Niall heard Bressie clear his throat. Niall sneaked a peek over at Bressie and he saw him looking out of his window with a slightest hint of a blush on his cheeks. 

\---------  
The next day, Niall found a bus route to get to Bressie's work place at about two in the afternoon. He wiped his slightly sweaty palms on his jeans as he walked up to the large open garage.

"Can I help you?" a guy with a beard asked. He was lounging on a chair sat in the sun.

"Yeah, I'm looking for Bressie?" Niall asked. 

The guy smirked at him. "You must be the kid that Bressie came in early for to fix up that car."

"He came in early?" Niall asked, stunned.

"He can't exactly fix up a car for free during company hours," the guy said and Niall's cheeks got hotter. The guy then gestured behind himself, "Anyways, you can head down that way. Bressie should be working on an Audi."

Bressie was indeed working. He was laying down beneath a car that was set up on car jacks. Niall could only see his legs clad in worn jeans, but the length and size of them told Niall that it was definitely Bressie. 

Niall waited quietly, fingers toying at the hem of his shirt. He could hear small clangs of tools underneath the car. 

Eventually, Bressie wheeled himself out from under the car. He was wearing a white tank-top that had been dirtied with grease.

Bressie jumped a little when he saw Niall. 

"Oh, how long have you been standing there?" Bressie asked, sitting up and wiping his dirty hands on a rag. 

Niall shrugged. "Just a few minutes."

The tank-top showed off Bressie's biceps and shoulders so nicely. There was also a generous amount of chest hair visible above the low neck of the tank-top, and Niall could clearly see the outline of Bressie's pecs. Bressie was thick with muscle and it made Niall wonder what he could do with them.

"You could've said something, y'know."

Again, Niall shrugged. "Didn't want to disturb you.”

 

Bressie smiled lightly, looking down at his lap before moving his head back up to gaze at Niall. "Did Liam send you back here?"

"Yeah, I guess. Biker with the beard?" Niall said. "He said you fixed my car for free."

"Of course," Bressie's smile widened. 

"I would've--" Niall swallowed, "I would've paid."

Bressie shook his head. "I know you would've have, but I wanted to, OK?"

"OK."

Bressie stood up then, the muscles in his arms bulging slightly and Niall caught another glimpse of Bressie's tattoo. "Let's go get your keys."

Niall followed as Bressie led them through the small car shop. He kept his eyes trained on Bressie's figure. He found the greased up white tank-top so hot on Bressie, it just screamed 'man'. Bressie also had plenty of back muscles for Niall to explore with his eyes as he walked. Niall wanted to run his hands down them, he was sure they would be so firm. 

Bressie stopped abruptly and Niall almost crashed right into his back. 

Bressie leaned down to a small desk and reached in to grab a set of keys.

"Thank you so much," Niall said as Bressie handed him his keys. 

"It was my pleasure," Bressie told him. He motioned for Niall to follow as he began to walk again. Niall had to walk briskly in order to keep up with Bressie's long legs.

Niall's car was parked in the back. At the door, Niall played with the keys and bit his lip. 

"So uh," Niall started. "I wanted to ask you something."

Bressie hesitated for a second before answering. "Sure, ask away."

"Wellll," Niall drawled. "I was wondering if you wanted to come to the planetarium with me." 

"Oh yeah? That would be fun," Bressie said. He was leaning on his right leg more than his left, with his hands shoved down his jeans pockets.

Niall smiled. "Would you be free Friday night?"

"I think I will be," Bressie smiled back. 

"Awesome," Niall said and went to hug Bressie. He stopped himself once he had his arms half way around Bressie's torso, realizing that Bressie was dirty with grease. 

“Don’t need to get you all dirty yet, do I?” Bressie laughed as Niall pulled away, smiling in amusement. 

The shock of what Bressie said washed away any embarrassment Niall would have felt. He spluttered a second before deciding to just climb into his car and thank Bressie once more.

Niall drove away with happiness bubbling up inside.

\---------  
Niall picked Bressie up on Friday evening outside of his flat. As Bressie walked up to the car, Niall checked his reflection in the mirror one last time. He had spent a good thirty minutes going over his outfit and hair and making sure everything was on point. (It was, but that didn't stop him fiddling with his hair and clothes now.)

Bressie was wearing dark jeans and a black button-up shirt and Niall suddenly felt lighter. Bressie wasn't too dressed up, but he just looked so nice and it made it easier for Niall to imagine this as a proper date rather than just two lads going out. 

The thought made Niall's mouth go dry. And he imagined going on a date with Bressie: holding hands and being cute together, whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears, kissing... 

"How are you doing?" Bressie asked as he opened his door. 

"I'm good. You?" Niall said.

Niall watched as Bressie's lips moved, barely even hearing his "I'm good too." Niall definitely wanted to kiss Bressie. To feel Bressie's pink lips against his own, sweet and slow or maybe even rough. And then there was the bit of scruff on Bressie's jaw, and Niall wondered what it would feel like against his cheeks. 

"So is this planetarium big?" Niall heard Bressie speak.

Niall blinked a few times. Bressie was already seated in the car, buckled in with the door shut. Niall turned his head forward, his cheeks heating up just a bit. 

"It's a decently sized one," Niall said. 

"I'm excited."

Niall smiled as he started up the car. "Good."

"So, has the car been giving you any more trouble?"

"No," Niall said, flicking his eyes over to Bressie quickly before refocusing on the road. It was just enough time to see Bressie staring at him. Niall's heartbeat jumped up in pace, and he tightened his hands on the steering wheel. "It's been great, way better than before."

"I'm glad," Bressie's voice sounded soft and Niall wanted to melt.

When they reached the planetarium, Niall felt the overwhelming need to reach out and take Bressie's hand to lead him inside. His hand twitched towards Bressie's as they got out of the car before Niall managed to plant his hand firmly by his side. 

Niall led the way, but even still, he was completely aware of Bressie behind him. 

There were only a few other people inside the planetarium. Niall weaved his way through the seats until he came to his favorite spot: two seats in the middle row of chairs. Niall had found that leaning back in these chairs provided a comfortable view of the whole ceiling.

When they sat down, Niall scooted to the edge of his seat so that he was as close to Bressie as possible. He leaned over the rest of the distance between them so that he could whisper to Bressie.

"The show doesn't start for another ten minutes or so."

Bressie hummed, looking around. The ceiling of the planetarium was dome shaped, and the seats curved around half the perimeter of the room. There were a few scattered small groups of people: a couple sitting in the back row, a woman and a child at the front row, and one guy sitting by himself. Their soft voices filled the room.

"So how many times have you been here?" Bressie asked.

Niall shrugged and bit his lip. "A few. They offer free admission to students."

"Uh-huh." 

"Yeah, I really love planetariums," Niall continued. "I mean, I love staring at the actual stars too, but you can't see them all: you can hardly even find the big dipper. In here, you can see literally everything, and it's how the sky would look if you could see all the stars and planets, without the light pollution you know, which is amazing. It really reminds you of how small you are."

Bressie was just smiling softly as Niall spoke. Their faces had actually gotten closer and Niall realized that he had moved closer to Bressie while he had spoken. He drew back slightly and his cheeks heated up again. 

"Sorry, that probably makes no sense," Niall sputtered. 

"No, it makes a lot of sense," Bressie said, and then the extra space that Niall had created between them was gone as Bressie leaned in. Niall's breath hitched slightly. "I don't know a lot about space, but I do know that there are all those little specks of light-- I don't even know how many-- and we're not even as big as one of them."

"There's billions," Niall breathed, then cleared his throat. "Well, we can only see a few thousand with just the naked eye, but there's 300 billion stars just in the Milky Way alone, which is only our galaxy and then there's over a 100 billion galaxies. And yeah, each star is probably a million times bigger than us." 

“Wow.”

The lights dimmed a moment later and a voice came through the speakers.

“We’re going to start the show now, please turn off all cell phones.”

Niall leaned back into his chair, still sitting slightly angled so that his upper body was closer to Bressie. His arm was on the armrest, brushing against Bressie’s. 

The multitude of stars and planets began to show on the darkened ceiling. Niall couldn’t help but glance at Bressie to see his reaction. It was a bit hard to see, considering Niall’s eyes hadn’t quite adjusted to the darkness yet, but he could make out a small smile as he stared up at the ceiling. It made Niall smile wider before he looked back up to the ceiling. He would never tire of seeing this magnificent display of all the stars. 

The commentator went through the usual rounds of the show. He pointed out all the different constellations, and white lines connected the stars briefly to illustrate them. The stars were rotated over the ceiling to represent how the earth spun. Lights flashed across the ceiling to represent comets, and they were shown the planets revolving and told when they could actually be seen on Earth. 

Every now and then, Niall leaned over to whisper added commentary, like all the different names of the stars, what fusion was, why the planets had the orbital they had. Bressie nodded along, even though Niall suspected most of what he was saying went over his head. 

A few times, Niall was staring at the ceiling and when he moved to tell Bressie something, he caught Bressie staring at him. It caused Niall to blush and forgot what he was about to say, so he just went back to looking up, still consciously aware of Bressie’s eyes on him for another minute or so. Sometimes, Niall would look over, not to even say anything, but to just watch as Bressie looked at the ceiling in awe. 

After one of Niall’s remarks, Niall felt Bressie’s fingers rub against his hand. Niall froze at first, but then relaxed and moved his fingers against Bressie’s as well. It made Niall want to hold Bressie’s much larger hand, but he didn’t dare to just yet. 

At the end of show, the lights turned back on but were left dimmed and the stars were still showing on the ceiling. The other people in the planetarium got up to leave, but Niall stayed where he was, head tilted up and eyes still peering up. He was secretly more focused on Bressie’s arm pressed against his.

“You’re amazing, you know,” Bressie said quietly. Niall felt his pulse quicken and he pointedly did not look over at Bressie. He could feel Bressie’s fingers trace his own. “I can tell why all this stuff fascinates you.”

“Yeah?” Niall asked, voice barely audible. He finally turned his head to Bressie. 

“Yeah.” Bressie took Niall’s hand in his own and Niall glanced down to see their fingers tangled together. His breath caught in his throat for just a second. “And it’s quite breathtaking to see you like this.” Bressie squeezed Niall’s hand and Niall took a moment before squeezing back. 

“Can I kiss you?” Bressie asked, leaning in so that his breath ghosted over Niall’s face.

“Yeah,” Niall sighed. His eyes fluttered shut as Bressie closed the rest of the distance between them.

It was a small gentle kiss and it only lasted for a few seconds, but Niall was smiling when it ended, and when he opened his eyes he could see a similar smile stretching across Bressie’s face. Niall held Bressie’s hand tighter and this time he leaned over to press his lips against Bressie’s. This kiss lasted a bit longer.

Niall pulled away breathing harshly through his nose. He stayed right there though, next to Bressie’s face, with their breaths mixing. This close, Niall could see Bressie’s dark eyelashes, and all the little lines of Bressie’s face. He was beautiful. There was a silence between them as they both looked each other over.

“I really like you,” Niall finally said. “Like, I really really like you.”

The corner’s of Bressie’s mouth turned up slightly. “I really like you too.” 

 

\---------

It was three months after Niall and Bressie had started dating that Bressie called somewhat out of the blue in order to invite Niall over to his house. Niall had been on the couch eating cheetos, since Bressie had told him that he would be busy tonight, so he had been a bit surprised but still eager to go. He was always eager to go.

Niall quickly washed the orange dust from the cheetos off his hands and then threw on some clothes that he knew looked good together. He decided to forego doing his hair and just let it lay flat against his forehead. Bressie had said he liked that style anyways. 

It was less than ten minutes from when Bressie had called to when Niall left his flat. It only took him another ten minutes to reach Bressie's flat.

When Bressie opened the door to Niall's knock, Niall could instantly smell something delicious. 

"Did you make dinner?" Niall asked, staring up in astonishment at Bressie.

Bressie shrugged coyly. "I may have."

"It smells amazing," Niall said, stepping into the house. "What did you make?"

"A chicken curry." Bressie placed his hand on Niall's back and slowly led him to the dining room. 

"Oh my God," Niall couldn't help but whisper, taking in the room. The lights were dimmed, but there were several candles flickering and giving off a soft glow. The table was already set, two plates and two wine glasses sitting across from each other with a bottle of red wine in between. Niall turned towards Bressie and put his hands on Bressie's broad chest. "I can't believe you told me you were busy tonight."

"I wanted to surprise you," Bressie bit his lip and Niall could see his eyes flick down to Niall's mouth.

"Well I'm pleasantly surprised," Niall smiled and stood up on his tip toes to gives Bressie a kiss. Bressie still had to lean down but their lips met in a soft caress, and Bressie circled his arms around Niall's back to pull him closer. Niall sighed into the kiss and slowly brought his arms up higher until they were wrapped around Bressie's neck. 

They parted slowly, but stayed in each other's embrace for another minute, just basking and staring at each other with matching small smiles. 

"We should eat before it goes cold," Bressie whispered and Niall nodded. They shared another much smaller peck and then Bressie kissed Niall's forehead -- which made Niall blush and smile even wider -- before they separated. 

Bressie pulled Niall's chair out for him and beamed as Niall sat down. Bressie dragged his hand across Niall's shoulders as he made his way to the other side of the table. Niall shivered at the touch. He loved the little touches that Bressie would constantly give him. 

Niall poured them each a glass of wine, before digging into the chicken on the plate. The taste instantly exploded on his tongue and Niall wanted to hold the food in his mouth forever at how good it was.

"This is amazing," Niall gushed.

"Thank you," Bressie said, taking small bites off his own plate. 

Niall grinned and stretched his legs under the table until his feet were touching Bressie's. Bressie gave a small smile into his food and Niall could feel him stretch out his own legs until their feet could meet in the middle of the table comfortably. 

"So there's something else too," Bressie said as they were finishing the meal.

"Oh?" Niall asked, leaning forward. 

"Yeah, I got you something, it's in my room."

"Oh," Niall said, his face heating up slightly in a blush. "What is it?"

"I'll show you," Bressie stood up and Niall tentatively did the same, unsure if Bressie wanted him to follow. 

"Come here," Bressie smiled warmly and waved his hand between them. Niall stepped forward and walked behind Bressie as he led them to his room. 

The door to the room was shut but Bressie made no move to open it. Instead, he placed his hands onto Niall's shoulders and leaned in until his mouth was right next to Niall's ear. Niall could feel his breath as Bressie spoke to him.

"You've got to close your eyes."

"Yeah, OK," Niall breathed out, his voice weaker than he had expected it to be. He shut his eyes, and then could only feel and hear as Bressie moved away and opened the door. The only thing Niall could see was a soft orange glow from the lighting through his eyelids. 

"Just stay there for a second," Bressie said. 

Niall could only hear a soft shuffling sound from Bressie as he stood there and waited. It was tempting to open his eyes to see what Bressie was doing, but Niall kept them squeezed shut and distracted himself by tapping his fingers against his legs.

Finally, Niall felt Bressie's touch against his arms again. His eyelids fluttered slightly, not enough to see anything and Bressie quickly told him, “No peeking.” Bressie led him a few steps forward, and then left his side again. Niall heard the door shut, and then the soft color vanished, replaced by darkness. Niall’s fingers tightened against his legs, wondering what it was exactly that Bressie wanted to show him in the dark. He swallowed nervously when ‘sex’ popped into his head. It was something they hadn’t talked about yet, though it was definitely something Niall wanted, eventually.

Bressie wrapped his arm around Niall and placed his hand on Niall's waist.

"Alright, you can open your eyes," Bressie whispered directly into Niall's ear.

Niall opened his eyes slowly at first and then quickly widened them as he saw the room. 

The walls and furniture were covered in small specks of light obviously resembling the stars. The room was bathed in a soft glow and there was a small globe on a stand in the middle of the room, emitting some light and projecting the stars into the room.

Niall let out a small gasp and found himself completely lost for words. He shuffled closer into Bressie and just kept looking around. It was absolutely breathtaking. It felt like the whole galaxy was here in this room with them.

"This is -- wow," Niall said. There were actual tears in the corners of his eyes. Niall hastily wiped them away hoping Bressie wouldn't notice.

"Yeah?" Bressie asked softly. 

Niall twisted his neck to look up at Bressie. He was met with Bressie smiling down at him. Niall's heart jumped and he smiled back while turning himself around so he could rest his cheek against Bressie's chest. He was still looking at the walls and ceilings and drinking in the sight.

"Come on, let's go lay on the bed," Bressie said and nudged Niall to get him to move. 

They laid side by side with Bressie's arm around Niall, and Niall's head on Bressie's shoulder. Niall was still in awe, but he was slightly distracted by Bressie stroking his fingers gently against Niall's upper arm. 

Niall sighed contentedly and his eyelids began to drift close. He felt so safe and warm here. Bressie kissed the side of his face, right above his eye, and Niall turned his head in order to smile into the crook of Bressie's neck. He placed a few soft kisses there, from where Bressie's neck met his shoulder up to the underside of his jaw, before shifting his body until he was laying on his side, propped up on his elbow so that he was looking down at Bressie. His leg was bent and laying across Bressie's body and Niall placed the arm he wasn't laying on across Bressie's chest.

"Thank you," Niall spoke softly, almost as if he was afraid to break the atmosphere around them with loud words. 

Instead of responding, Bressie just leaned up for a kiss and Niall met him halfway. The kiss was gentle and slow and when Bressie placed his head back on the bed, Niall followed him down without losing touch. 

"I'm glad you like it," Bressie said, pulling away.

Niall pecked his lips. "I love it." Another peck, then Niall settled down, resting his head right below Bressie's and laying half on top of him. Bressie wrapped his arm around Niall and rubbed his back with his hand. 

Niall could feel Bressie's chest rise and fall and he timed his own breathing to match. He would be lying if he said he wasn't feeling a little bit turned on, feeling Bressie's body heat pressed so close, his weight underneath Niall, and Niall's crotch resting against Bressie's upper thigh. Niall's hips gave an involuntary twitch and for a second there was a pleasant pressure on his dick. 

Bressie froze beneath Niall, his hand stilling on Niall's lower back before his breath hitched and his fingers curled against Niall's back as if trying to hold onto him. Niall's own breathing got a little bit faster too. 

Niall pressed his hips down again, a little harder and for longer this time, and Bressie's hand pressed further into Niall's back in response. Niall slowly scooted himself up the bed until he was face to face with Bressie, with his hips now resting just above Bressie's. 

They stared into each other's eyes for a moment before Niall closed his and leaned down for a kiss. It was rougher this time and Bressie was quick to slip his tongue out and tease Niall with light touches. 

Niall shifted until he was laying completely on top of Bressie, chests pressed together and with Niall's legs lying on either side of Bressie. Niall felt a slight burn in his thighs just from having his legs held open by Bressie's body. He loved it though.

Niall began to grind his hips into Bressie and he whimpered into Bressie's mouth at the feeling. His dick was beginning to fatten up inside of his jeans. Bressie put his hands on Niall's hips and moved his thumbs to rub soft circles into the skin underneath Niall's shirt. His hands moved with Niall, almost leading him. 

"Can I take your shirt off?" Bressie asked, mouth still right next to Niall's.

"Yeah."

Niall sat up on his knees once his shirt was gone, hands on Bressie's chest. The stars illuminated their faces in a soft glow. He scooted back until his bum was pressed to Bressie's pelvis. He could feel the slight bulge there even through the layer of clothes..

Niall tugged at the hem of Bressie's shirt and waited for Bressie's nod of consent before helping him take it off. Bressie had to sit up to get the shirt over his head, struggling to not hit Niall with his elbows in the process with Niall in his lap.

Bressie placed a hand on the back of Niall's head and pulled him in. Their naked chests pressed together again as they kissed. Bressie's other hand wandered over Niall's back, exploring all the little curves. Niall's own hands were moving up and down Bressie's biceps and shoulders and feeling the strong muscles. 

The bit of stubble on Bressie's chin and face rubbed against Niall's bare skin as they kissed. It only added to the pleasure Niall was feeling. He moved his hips against Bressie, slowly at first and then picking up speed as he panted into Bressie's mouth. 

Bressie moved his hand from Niall’s back to his front and slid them down Niall’s stomach to the button of his jeans. Niall broke away from the kiss and rested his forehead against Bressie’s shoulder so he could peer down as Bressie fumbled with the button. 

“Ohh,” Niall let out a soft moan once Bressie had undone the button and reached into Niall’s pants to grab Niall’s dick and pull it out. He watched in somewhat of a daze as Bressie stroked him. Niall was pretty average in size, but Bressie’s hand wrapped him so easily and made his dick appear smaller than normal. Bressie swiped his thumb over the head and Niall’s hips jerked into his hand, and he whimpered into Bressie’s skin.

Niall’s own hands had stopped moving on Bressie’s biceps. He trailed them down to get to Bressie’s pants. Bressie was at least two inches bigger than him and felt thick in Niall’s hand. Niall began to stroke Bressie in time with Bressie’s movements. He peppered kisses into Bressie’s neck and shoulders along with a few bites and sucks. He had to stop every now and then just to let out a soft moan or whimper. Bressie made a few grunts as well, and his breathing was also getting faster and harsher. Niall could feel Bressie’s warm breath against his ear. 

Bressie moved his left hand to the back of Niall’s jeans to cup his ass and knead the flesh there. A huge shiver racked Niall’s body when Bressie’s finger slid over his hole gently. 

Niall kissed up the underside of Bressie’s jaw until he made it back to his lips. 

“I really want to ride you,” Niall said after a moment of kissing.

Bressie’s body jerked slightly at his words. “Oh god, yeah? Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Niall whispered against Bressie’s lips before pressing them together again briefly. “Can you open me up?”

“Yeah, yeah, just,” Bressie braced his arms against Niall's back and then rolled them over so that Niall was on his back on the bed with Bressie above him. Bressie got onto his knees and grabbed Niall's ankles and pulled him closer. He then made quick work in sliding Niall's jeans off his legs before standing up to take off his own pants. 

Niall leaned up on his elbows to watch, his mouth slightly open and his cheeks pink. His breath caught just a little as Bressie rolled his pants down. His dick was almost fully hard and pointing upwards. Bressie also had such thick thighs and beautifully crafted legs. It made Niall's mouth go a bit dry.

Bressie got back up on the bed, the bed creaking and shifting as he positioned himself in between Niall's legs. Niall automatically spread his legs further, wishing he was flexible enough to be able to press his thighs flat against the bed. Niall's thighs paled in comparison to the size of Bressie's.

Bressie leaned over Niall in order to reach the bedside table, his chest right above Niall's face and his scent filled Niall's nose. It was so musky and good and Niall wanted to inhale it forever. He pressed a quick kiss before Bressie came back down with a bottle of lube and a condom. 

Niall waited in anticipation as Bressie spread the lube over several of his fingers. Niall had fingered himself before, lots of times, but Bressie's fingers were much thicker than his own and he couldn't wait to feel them pressing inside of him. His hips flexed up at the thought. 

"You ready?" Bressie bent over and breathed into Niall's ear. He was leaning onto his left arm which was pressed against the bed next to Niall, while his right hand was tracing Niall's hole. 

"Please," Niall lifted his hips up slightly. 

Bressie pressed his finger in slowly and there was a little bit of a burn but it just felt so good.

Niall let out a small keen as Bressie worked his finger in and out further, starting with just the tip before pressing in a bit more until his whole finger was inside of Niall. 

Bressie began laying kisses over Niall's neck, collarbones and chest. He was hovering over Niall, his whole body encasing Niall's. He slowly added another finger into Niall, and began scissoring them and stretching Niall's rim and insides. Niall's hips moved slightly with Bressie's movements. 

Niall gasped as Bressie pressed his fingertips into his prostate. His hands that had been previously gripping at the bed sheets flew up to Bressie's back and his fingers scrambled against the skin there. He finally settled on holding onto Bressie's arms, his hands not even wrapping around half way. 

As Niall let out more and more moans at Bressie's ministrations, Niall could feel Bressie's smirk against his skin.

Bressie added a third finger and simultaneously scraped his teeth over one of Niall's nipples before taking the small bud into his mouth and sucking. Niall's body arched, hips pressing down into the bed, and chest coming up towards Bressie's face. 

"I'm ready," Niall panted. He just wanted Bressie inside of him now. 

Bressie didn't respond, just kept spreading his fingers inside of Niall and fucking them in and out. Niall pushed against Bressie's shoulders but he still didn't budge.

"Pl-ease," Niall whined. "I want you." 

"Mmm, OK," Bressie relented and took his fingers from Niall.

Niall sat up on his knees. Bressie had the condom in his hands but Niall took it from him and placed his hands on Bressie's shoulders until Bressie got the message to sit down on the bed with his legs extended. Niall straddled Bressie's legs and ripped the condom package open. He rolled it down Bressie's length and poured a bit more lube and worked it over Bressie's dick. 

Niall took hold of the base of Bressie's dick and leaned up over it. Bressie's hands settled on his waist and helped guide him as Niall slowly sat down. The head of Bressie's dick pressed against Niall's hole and Niall gasped at the first intrusion. It was a bit bigger than three of Bressie's fingers. Niall slid down slowly, the stretch burning but not hurting.

Once Bressie was fully inside Niall, Niall took a moment to get used to Bressie's size. They were sitting together like this, connected, in silence with their breaths mingling. The whole galaxy surrounded them, and little flecks of light reflected off their bodies and the bed, bathing them in a dim light. Bressie looked so beautiful with the stars on his face and chest. It made Niall's heart stop for a second.

Niall dove in for a kiss, smacking his lips against Bressie's. It was desperate and wet and Bressie hugged Niall closer. Their lips didn't lose contact as Niall began to move, shifting his weight further onto his knees as he moved up and back down. Bressie's length was dragging inside of him and Bressie groaned into Niall's mouth. Niall let out a similar sound, though higher pitched, as he moved back down and the head of Bressie's dick rubbed against his prostate. 

Niall kept it slow for a little a while, still getting used to the feeling but also just enjoying feeling every inch of Bressie inside of him. After a little bit though, Niall began to move faster, dropping his hips down before rising up. Bressie also started thrusting up into Niall, meeting Niall's hips and causing Niall to gasp loudly. 

Bressie gripped Niall's hips hard and forced Niall to stay still so he could thrust his hips upward hard and fast. Niall shuddered above Bressie, feeling small in his grip but loving it. His lips were still moving against Bressie's, tongues lightly touching each other. 

"Fuck," Niall breathed. He could already feel it building up, a coil in his stomach waiting for the release. He fell into Bressie's body, releasing Bressie's lips as he tucked himself into Bressie's chest, his head just underneath Bressie's chin. Niall couldn't keep up with Bressie's pace, and the pleasure was shooting through his body to the point where he couldn't really even think but move with Bressie. He just stayed there, fingers gripping hard on Bressie's biceps and moaning into him, occasionally mouthing at the skin as he let Bressie fuck up into him.

Niall moaned. 

"Feels good, yeah?" Bressie asked, his voice sounding breathless.

"Yesss," Niall whimpered. 

Bressie flipped them suddenly. Niall's back hit the bed, and he stared up at the stars as Bressie continued to move inside of him. Niall was still gripping Bressie's biceps and he wrapped his legs around Bressie's waist, pulling the man even closer. Bressie's body engulfed him, his arms on either side of Niall's body and his head right above Niall's. All Niall could see was Bressie. 

"I'm close," Bressie whispered into the top of Niall's head. 

Niall arched, chest pressing up against Bressie's. Bressie wrapped a large hand around Niall's leaking dick and pulled in time with his thrusts. 

"YES," Niall screamed. 

Bressie brought his head up so that he was staring down at Niall. Bressie leaned in for another kiss, but Niall tensed up and came. He was looking directly into Bressie's eyes, could see the stars and the galaxy in the corner of his vision, as his cum splattered against his tummy and onto Bressie's hand. 

Bressie thrusted a few more times, and kissed Niall wetly, before he came as well.

They pulled apart, just long enough for Bressie to slip out of Niall and get the condom off. Bressie collapsed next to Niall and immediately pulled him against his chest. Niall curled into Bressie, their breathing short and rapid. 

They were quiet for awhile, just holding each other in an embrace while they calmed down. 

Niall idly traced Bressie's chest and played with the bit of hair there, before tilting his head up towards Bressie. "Thank you," Niall said, "this night was amazing. The dinner, the small home planetarium, which is just wow, and then this." Niall motioned between them.

Bressie smiled and murmured, "You're so lovely. I'm so thankful to have you here." He placed a small kiss right below Niall's ear.

Niall's cheeks heated up and he wiggled in Bressie's arms, and pressed his face into Bressie's shoulder . There was a large smile blooming across his face the longer he thought about Bressie's words. 

Bressie began rubbing Niall's back with his hand, and they were quiet once again.

For a second, Niall thought he was going to fall asleep, his eyelids felt heavy and he was just so comfortable, but then Bressie spoke again.

"Hey, I was thinking," Bressie seemed a bit hesitant. 

Niall peered up at him through his eyelashes and had to give him a small nudge with his body before Bressie continued.

"If you're still looking for a flat, you could always move in with me."

Niall stared in shock for a minute before laughter bubbled out of him. He laughed into Bressie's neck.

"What is it?" Bressie asked, sounding alarmed. "Do you not want to? You don't have to, it was just a suggestion."

"No, no," Niall said. His laughter had slowed down but a few giggles still escaped him. "It's not that, it's -- never mind," Niall quickly rerouted, not wanting to bring up now that he had not actually been looking for an apartment in the first place. "I'd love to, honestly."

"Yeah?" 

"Yeah," Niall said. "On one condition though."

"What?" Bressie asked.

Niall hummed and snuggled even further into the bed. "I get to share the universe with you."

It was Bressie's turn to let out a small laugh. Bressie smiled and hugged Niall closer. "Of course," he said, pressing a small kiss to Niall's temple, "wouldn't have it any other way."


End file.
